Annasaheb Rajopadhye the LEGACY of Annasaheb Rajopadhye

THE LEGACY OF Annasaheb Rajopadhye THE LEGACY OF Annasaheb Rajopadhye www.prinseps.com ‘It was my father who made the move to contemporary and modern thinking, while keeping alive the ANNASAHEB RAJOPADHYE tradition of my ancestors', remembers his daughter, (1885-1940) the renowned costume designer Bhanu Athaiya, in her book, The Art of Costume Design. A University education in English introduced Rajopadhye to new ideas and interests and he soon demonstrated a strong The city of Kolhapur in southern Maharashtra is often called Kalapur, a city of the arts: inclination towards all forms of artistic expression, a tag that originated in the early twentieth century as a result of a social and cultural transformation initiated by Chhatrapati Shahu Maharaj (1874-1922). which became his life's passionʼ. A remarkably progressive ruler, Shahu Maharaj challenged the stranglehold of the Brahmin caste over administrative posts and educational opportunities in his state, and ‘It was my father who made the move to manifested most visibly in the work of introduced the idea of affirmative action to India by reserving jobs for the non-Brahmin contemporary and modern thinking, while the artist and silent-film pioneer Baburao castes. Coupled with sweeping social and educational reforms, his policies helped free keeping alive the tradition of my ancestors', Painter, who famously constructed his own the depressed classes from their traditional shackles, and unleashed their creative and remembers his daughter, the renowned camera, and then an entire film industry entrepreneurial skills. With support from the state, various gifted individuals emerged costume designer Bhanu Athaiya, in from scratch with the barest of resources. as early adopters of the new modes of cultural production that were evolving in the port her book, The Art of Costume Design. A Painter’s circle consisted primarily of cities of British India. In the process, modern visual technologies such as illusionist university education in English introduced fellow members of the artisan castes who painting and photography and cinema took root in this remote princely state. Rajopadhye to new ideas and interests, honed their craft by working with him, and he discovered ‘a strong inclination and graduated to become full-fledged Ganpatrao ‘Annasaheb’ Rajopadhye came of age in the era when a new social and cultural towards all forms of artistic expression, painters, art directors and film-makers. order was emerging in Kolhapur. The Rajopadhyes belonged to a line of royal priests who which became his life's passion'. He With success, he also drew connoisseurs served the Chhatrapatis of Kolhapur. They were a large and wealthy landed family with studied painting techniques from books and art-lovers from varied backgrounds an ancient lineage: the family mansion was a 300-year-old sprawling wada with more on European art, which he purchased on into his orbit. Rajopadhye was one of them. than 30 rooms, 3 courtyards, a well, and a family temple where shehnais heralded the his frequent trips to Mumbai; he learned He began to drop in at Painter’s studio dawn and the chanting of mantras continued through the day. Shahu Maharaj's battles photography and set up his own darkroom. to look at his work and chat about art. with religious orthodoxy and his subsequent dismantling of Brahmin hegemony had a In both mediums, his main interest lay in He also studied Painter’s craft and is significant impact on the family's fortunes, as well as Annasaheb Rajopadhye's life and portraiture: images of family members, known to have reproduced the artist’s career. Where earlier generations had emphasised Sanskrit learning and scholasticism, as well as of theatre greats such as Bal Nadikathchi Madhursmruti, most likely Annasaheb sought his own way in the modern world. Gandharva and Ganpatrao Bodas, painted with the intention of understanding his from photographic references. techniques and distinctive approach to In Kolhapur, the 1920s were a period colour. Meanwhile, Painter, who had a of great cultural ferment, in which the rudimentary education, looked up to the artisan class came into its own to create older Rajopadhye for his knowledge and his an artistic and technological revolution, awareness of developments in the world of Just a few decades earlier, art. He was a frequent visitor to the Rajopadhye Perhaps it was the charged artistic atmosphere of the times household, where he spent hours poring over this kind of symbiotic books on art and photography, immersed in that eventually led Rajopadhye to make the transition from deep discussions. Just a few decades earlier, amateur to semi-professional. With the advent of sound friendship between a this kind of symbiotic friendship between highborn Brahmin and a a highborn Brahmin and a member of the cinema in the thirties, Kolhapur's lone film studio was joined carpenter caste would have been well-nigh by several others, and the small Maharashtrian town became member of the carpenter impossible; its existence in the twenties caste would have been was a tribute to both Shahu Maharaj's social an unlikely hub of Hindi, Marathi and South Indian cinema. engineering and Rajopadhye’s progressive well-nigh impossible; outlook. As his reputation grew over the years, Painter Perhaps it was the charged artistic where he has to either break the ekadashi its existence in the with his sagely appearance became a kind of atmosphere of the times that eventually vow, or sacrifice his beloved son for the patriarch of the Kolhapur art scene. By the twenties was a tribute led Rajopadhye to make the transition sake of his ideals. late thirties, he was the nucleus of a motley from amateur to semi-professional. The story of Mohini would have been to both Shahu Maharaj's group of amateurs and professionals who With the advent of sound cinema in the familiar to Rajopadhye from ritual met regularly to organise demonstrations, social engineering and thirties, Kolhapur's lone film studio was vratkatha retellings and prior film exhibitions and sketching trips. Their artistic joined by several others, and the small versions; its artistic and dramatic Rajopadhye’s progressive activity was rooted firmly in naturalism, Maharashtrian town became an unlikely potential was illustrated by Raja Ravi steering away from both the older style of hub of Hindi, Marathi and South Indian Varma in the painting Rukmangada and outlook. narrative painting and the contaminating cinema. At Shalini Cinetone, the studio set Mohini, which depicts the tense moment touch of modernism. Instead, there was a up by the royals of Kolhapur for Painter, where the king steels himself to behead newfound interest in drawing and painting Rajopadhye served as an associate his son. From the available evidence, it 2020 from life. 'It was common to see painters director on the Telugu film Harischandra appears that Rajopadhye's ambition was to propping up their easels on a portable stand (1935), filmed by director TA Raman with create an artistic film imbued with refined and doing landscapes in watercolours', writes the help of Shalini personnel. He may also cultural values. Accordingly, he engaged Bhanu Athaiya. 'The temple with its grand have assisted on the seminal Savkari Pash the well-known Marathi poet Yashwant, architecture, the Sandhya Math with the (1936), Painter’s realist masterpiece on the Rajkavi of Baroda, to write the script Shalini Palace in the background and the the theme of rural indebtedness. Having and the songs. Photographic stills from Panchganga river were the favourite scenes. caught the cinema bug, he ventured into the film reveal that he drew inspiration Demonstrations were held by painting independent direction and production a from Indian academic painting for the enthusiasts on Sundays. Master painters few years later, launching a film company poses and costumes of the characters. This would be invited to give step-by-step named ‘My Pictures'. Its first and only film is similar to Baburao Painter's approach demonstrations of their style of rendering was Mohini (1940, Marathi), the story of in films such as Usha (1935) and Pratibha portraits'. Though he is not known to have the good king Rukmangada, whose devout (1937) where the director can be seen painted watercolours from life, Rajopadhye observance of the ekadashi, the day of striving to create a 'classical' aesthetic was nevertheless an enthusiastic observer at The Legacy of Annasaheb Rajopadhye - fasting and prayers dedicated to Vishnu, for cinema. Significantly, Rajopadhye cast these events, and took his daughter along on is tested by the gods. Descending from Painter's heroine and artistic model Usha one occasion. She would later compare the heaven, the beautiful enchantress Mohini Mantri in the title role of Mohini, while sight of the Sunday painters by the river to a seduces the king and extracts a promise other important parts were also played scene from Paris, where 'instead of the Seine, that he will come to her whenever she by actors associated with the master we had the Panchganga'. desires, thus entrapping him in a situation director. 06/ Mohini was noteworthy in another respect. It was the debut film for Rajopadhye's daughter Bhanu: she played the role of the king's son, twin braids hidden under a heavy wig, and played it well enough to draw a line of praise from the Times of India. Sadly, Annasaheb Rajopadhye did not live to see his daughter on the big screen. He died in September Like much of India's film 1940, while his film was still under production, leaving it to be legacy from this era, completed by an associate, Madhukar Bavdekar. According to the film Annasaheb Rajopadhye's researcher Shashikant Kinikar, who most ambitious work has interviewed Rajopadhye's widow References in Kolhapur some decades ago, it not survived into our was Baburao Painter who provided times.

Load more